


Kid Stuff

by MaurLin



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Emilie Agreste is Missing, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Not Beta Read, Parent-Child Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24574138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaurLin/pseuds/MaurLin
Summary: Marinette finds a strange child in her house- before watching her partner become another.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 9
Kudos: 91





	Kid Stuff

**Author's Note:**

> Characters belong to ZAG and Thomas Astruc.

Marinette woke up when Tikki started tapping her face. “Marinette! Wake up! Hurry!”

“Mmph…” She checked her phone. “Tikki, I’m not late. My alarm hasn’t gone off…” Then she smelled it- something was burning!

Marinette threw off the covers and flew down the stairs to her room, then wrenched open the door and tumbled down to the kitchen. Hopping back up, she called “Maman!” as she ran to the oven, where some faint smoke was issuing out of the door.

She grabbed a set of oven mitts, turned the oven off, and opened the door. Inside, behind the smoke, was a blackened quiche. She pulled it out and set it on a pad safely away from anything else.

“Maman?” she called again, moving into the living room. Where was her mother? Somebody had left the quiche unattended, and her dad was in the bakery at this hour. Then she noticed a soft sniffling coming from under one of the dining stools. Marinette crouched down to see what was making the noise.

It was a little girl. A  _ very _ little girl; she couldn’t be more than a year old. She looked up at Marinette with a tear-stained face, and held out her arms. “Ma…ma…” she babbled.

“Oh, where did  _ you _ come from?” Marinette asked, knowing full well that a child that age had no chance of actually telling her. But the child looked upset, and Marinette still had to find her own mom. She picked the little girl up and headed down to the bakery; maybe her dad would know who this was- and where Maman had gone.

The little girl put her arms around Marinette’s neck. “Ma…” she said.

“No, I’m not your maman. But I bet we can find her, okay?” She smiled at the child, who seemed sad; her baby eyes were watering.

Finding her dad wasn’t tough; he was helping a lady and her young son in a brief moment between baking tasks. “Papa, have you seen Maman? She left the quiche in the oven, and it burned…”

Papa turned toward Marinette, having finished with the customers. He gave her a concerned look. “Your mother hasn’t been down here all morning; I was about to come up and look for her.” He glanced at the little girl, then did a double take. “Who is this?”

“I found her under one of the stools. I don’t know who she is.”

The little girl reached out to Papa, new tears making tracks on her chubby cheeks. “Da…da…”

Papa took the little girl from Marinette, and stared deep into her face. His own face paled behind the moustache. Carefully he said, “I think I know who this is. Close the bakery door and come with me.”

Marinette had rarely seen her Papa looking so upset; she did as he asked, and followed him back upstairs.

Cradling the little girl in one arm, Papa went over to the bookcase and pulled out an old photo album. He opened it on the coffee table, flipped to the front, and pointed. “Doesn’t this look like our pretty girl here?”

Marinette looked at the photo. It did resemble the child her Papa was holding- remarkably so. The child seemed to think so too, reaching for the photo and calling, “Meh!”

“It does, Papa. But whose picture is this? I haven’t seen it before.” She looked at the little girl again, and back to the picture.

“It’s a picture of your mother- when she was a baby.”

Marinette stared, a sick feeling beginning in her stomach. “You- think this is-“ she turned and looked at the child again. She whispered, “Maman?”

The little girl leaned against Papa’s shoulder, nodding her head up and down slowly.

“One of my customers- the ones you saw- said there was a strange boy outside, turning adults into babies. They hid for a minute until the boy left, but your Maman must have been at the window…” Papa hugged the little girl close. Marinette threw her arms around them both, too.

“What do we do, Papa?”

“I will take care of our little Sabine, here. I think I remember how to take care of a little girl.” Papa winked at Marinette, but she could see the worry still in his eyes. “You are going to school.”

Marinette didn’t think she would be going to school; her priority was finding the new akuma who was babifying the city, and stopping them soon. But agreement would get her out the door. “Okay, Papa. But if there’s anything weird going on there, I’m coming right back!” Marinette kissed her tiny mother and her Papa, and went back upstairs.

She threw on her school clothes and grabbed her bookbag and purse, then transformed into Ladybug to leave by the balcony. It shouldn’t take too long to find someone making babies, right?

Ladybug didn’t have to go far to find the source of the trouble. The akuma was a little kid- or at least looked like a little kid, maybe five or six years old. He had light green skin and curly yellow hair; he was outside the school, where some of the students were watching the kid confront Ms. Mendeleiev.

“Young man,” the cranky teacher began, “you should be at home. Where are your parents?”

“Doesn’t matter. Papa’s at work, and Mama likes my baby sister so much, she can BE a baby! And so can you!” With that, he blew a raspberry at the teacher, who shimmered and turned into an infant. The new baby started to cry as she glared at the kid-akuma.

Ladybug had had it. She swung down on her yoyo and picked up the baby teacher. “Turning adults into babies isn’t the answer!”

“Ladybug!” The akumatized kid was startled for a second, but then rallied. “I don’t care! Grownups only care about babies- it’s not fair!”

Ladybug dodged out of the way of his next spitting attack, and plopped the infant teacher into Juleka’s arms. “Here- take care of her,” she instructed, before heading back into the fight.

Cat Noir dropped out of the sky to land next to her. “Don’t let him spit at you!” Ladybug warned him. She turned back to the kid. “Your parents took care of you as a baby- why shouldn’t they take care of your sister now?”

“No! They don’t love me anymore!” The kid ran up the steps to the door of the school. “All grownups can be babies again!” With that, he disappeared into the school.

Cat Noir led Ladybug into the school courtyard. The kid turned lightning-fast and stuck out his tongue. “Look out!” Cat Noir cried, pushing Ladybug to the side and taking the spit-attack full in the face.

Cat Noir shimmered and shrank- but not to infant size. He became about the same age as the kid.

The akuma looked angry. “Why aren’t YOU a baby?”

“’Cause I’m not a grownup, I guess” Cat Noir shrugged.

Ladybug shook her head;  _ this _ was going to be fun. But Kiddie Noir was actually kind of cute.

The akumatized kid kept ranting about his mother ‘forgetting’ him. Cat Noir was growling at the akuma. “Stop saying that!” he yelled as he shook his head and charged. The kid charged too, and tackled Cat Noir; they rolled across the floor, the kid kicking and Cat Noir trying to put him in a chokehold.

Ladybug had had enough. She ran to the tussling boys and grabbed one at random. “Break it up!” she ordered. As she looked down, she saw that she had Cat Noir by the waist. He looked angry, but stayed quiet as he hung limply in her grasp.

The other boy took the opportunity to run back outside; Ladybug tucked her tiny partner under one arm and tried to follow, but the kid had vanished.

Cat Noir tried to wiggle out of Ladybug’s grasp. “Put me down! We gotta go find him!”

“Not until you tell me what’s going on with you. It’s not like you to tear into an akuma victim like that.”

“Nothin’,” came the sullen response; little Cat Noir kept his head turned to the side.

“Fine. Then what was that kid saying to you while you were wrestling?”

With an almighty wrench, Cat Noir freed himself from Ladybug’s grip and vaulted to the roof. She followed, disturbed by Cat’s sudden change in behavior.

Cat Noir was seated on the roof, knees under his chin and arms wrapped around his legs. Ladybug sat next to him,waiting for him to speak. “He was sayin’- that we were just like his mom, more interested in babies than him.”

Something in his voice caught Ladybug’s attention. “What’s so bad about that? He could have called us worse.”

The little boy in the cat costume scrunched tighter. “At least he  _ has _ a mom,” he muttered.

Ladybug abruptly noticed that her child-partner was shaking. He was trying to muffle himself in his knees, but she could hear the sniffs, and he rubbed the back of one hand across his eyes and nose.

She softened, and gently laid a hand on his back, though she didn’t say anything. Finally, Cat Noir spoke again; it was odd hearing his high little-boy voice. “It’s my mom’s birthday today- an’ she’s been gone almost two years. I-“ He pushed his face deeper into his knees, and his next words came out as a muffled wail. “I miss herrrr…”

“Oh, kitty…I’m so sorry.” Ladybug rubbed his back, feeling him taking shaky breaths. She gathered up the little boy-cat in her arms; he looked at her, startled, then threw his arms around her neck and buried his face in her shoulder. Sobs racked his whole frame as she held him, rocking slightly back and forth.

After a minute, she ventured a question. “Can you tell me what happened to her?” Ladybug was expecting anything- death from illness, or accident, or maybe Cat Noir’s parents divorced- there could be a number of possibilities.

But the answer she got was none of them. “I don’t knoooowww,” came another wail from her shoulder. “P-Père won’t  _ tell _ meeeee…”

She gasped and stiffened, outraged on her partner’s behalf. How could any father leave his son without some kind of answer? Even if  _ he  _ didn’t know, he should have the decency to tell his son what he could. But the boy in her arms didn’t notice; he sniffled and cried. Ladybug just kept holding him and rocking him, until he wound down to a hiccupping sigh.

Finally he squirmed a little, trying to get loose. “S-sorry,” he mumbled.

“It’s okay, kitty. I think I’d be upset about that too.” Ladybug loosened her hug, and Cat Noir scrambled off her lap. “Up to finding that akuma now?”

He nodded, swiping his hand across his face one last time. He closed his eyes and stood still, his cat-ears twitching.

Finally Cat Noir looked up. “He’s that way,” he said pointing toward the park.

“Figures. He probably is looking for parents to convert to babies.” Ladybug held out her hand. “Let’s go, Kitty.”

They headed over the roofs, Cat Noir holding Ladybug’s hand. Sure enough, the akumatized boy was in the park, but he wasn’t going after anyone- there was no one else around. The boy was sitting on the swings, slowly going back and forth, head hanging and shoulders slumped.

“Hmmm…” Ladybug tapped her chin with a finger. “I guess we could just go up to him, but he’d probably fight again. Let’s see what I can get to help.” She set her feet and spun her yoyo. “Lucky Charm!”

A box of cookies fell into her hand. She looked around in confusion.

Cat Noir’s ears were still going a mile a minute as he watched the akuma. “I think his stomach’s growling. I bet he’s hungry.” He grimaced. “I know I am- I missed breakfast.”

“Me too, kitty.” An idea formed in her head. “Why don’t you take this box down and make friends? At the least, you can apologize for trying to rip his head off.”

Cat Noir gave her his best  _ are you serious? _ look (which looked adorable to be honest), but took the box and vaulted to the little green boy. He held the box behind his back as he faced the tiny villain. “Hi.”

The boy’s face twisted. “What are  _ you _ doing here? I’m just gonna take your Miraculous.”

“I’m here to say sorry. I brought cookies,” said the little kitty, holding out the box.”

Temptation raced across the akuma’s face. As Ladybug approached from the side, she could hear a loud growl from his stomach too. At last he said, “Well, okay.”

The two boys sat down near the swings and shared out the cookies. Ladybug tried not to worry about her partner, but he seemed fine as the two talked quietly. Her earrings beeped as the last cookies crunched.

“There’s one left,” said Cat Noir. “You have it.” He offered the box to the boy.

“But then what do you get?” Obviously the little boy had been taught to share. “I know!” He took a toy car out of his pocket and handed it to Cat Noir. Ladybug could see the purple-and-black coloring.

“Cataclysm, kitty,” she muttered under her breath, knowing he would hear her. He threw her an  _ I know, sheesh  _ look, and turned to the akuma. “Wanna see a cool trick?” he asked, then atomized the toy.

The young boy looked ready to howl as the akuma’s energy left him, leaving a young, tow-headed boy behind. Ladybug caught the butterfly, and let it go, then moved over to the duo. Cat Noir was patting the kid’s shoulder. “Just watch. This is the best part.”

She leaned down and picked up the empty cookie box, then tossed it into the sky. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

The swarm of ladybugs swirled through the city and past the trio. A shiver of energy, and the toy car was restored; another, and Cat Noir stood next to Ladybug, full sized again. He crouched next to the boy.

“Hey, there. What happened?”

The boy looked up at Cat Noir in awe. “Um…I was hungry, but Momma said she had to help the baby first.” He looked sad. “The baby always comes first.”

“I know,” said Ladybug, as she picked up the toy car to hand to the child. “It doesn’t seem fair, does it?” The little boy nodded. “But when you were a baby, you came first, even when your maman was hungry. Now that you’re bigger, the baby has to come first, but it doesn’t mean your maman won’t help you after.”

“And besides,” Cat Noir added, “you can do all sorts of stuff the baby can’t yet. Maybe you can teach her when she’s older.” He turned to Ladybug. “I’ll get him home; I have more time than you.”

Ladybug nodded and smiled. “Pound it?” They bumped fists, and Cat Noir picked up the boy. As she launched her yoyo to swing away, she heard, “So, where do you live?”

Marinette headed for home as fast as she could. Bursting into the bakery, she saw what she had been hoping for- her mother, standing next to her dad. Launching herself forward, she found herself caught in a hug, which her dad joined after a second.

“Thank you for saving the house, sweetie,” Maman said. “I knew the quiche was burning, but I couldn’t even stand to try to turn the oven off. You’re our hero!”

“It’s okay, Maman. I’m just glad you’re you again,” Marinette gave her mother another squeeze.

“You’d better get back to school, sweetheart,” Papa reminded her.

Marinette nodded, and slipped upstairs to grab her things. Today she had learned a bit about her partner that she had never suspected; it made her wish for a second that they didn’t have to hide identities. She wouldn’t mind sharing her Maman with Cat Noir.  _ Maybe someday _ , she thought as she headed out the door.

**Author's Note:**

> This was something I wrote a while ago, that never felt quite finished. (Still doesn't if I'm honest.) Let me know what you like/ don't like.
> 
> I have two big projects I'm working on simultaneously; "An Issue of Blood" is going past the epilogue I'm writing and will have a third story, and a new completely separate multi-chapter. Both look to be considerably angst- heavy, which makes slow going for me, so I may not post (or only post silly one-shots) for a while.
> 
> Thanks for commenting and leaving kudos! Both of which make writing a lot more fun!


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